Compact multifunctional battery booster

• US 10,087,904 B2
• Filed: 06/15/2016
• Issued: 10/02/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Schumacher Electric Corporation
• Original Assignee: Schumacher Electric Corporation
• Inventors: Butler, Brian F., Nguyen, Linh, Clarke, Patrick, Zhu, Shenzhong, Chen, Xiao Ping
• Primary Examiner(s): Berhanu, Samuel
• Application Number:
  US15/183,311
• Publication Number:
  US 20160297311A1
• Time in Patent Office: 839 Days
• Field of Search: 320105
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/20 characterised by converters located in the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/80 Exchanging energy storage elements, e.g. removable batteries
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/25 by controlling the electric load
• CPC Class Codes: F02N 11/12 Starting of engines by means of mobile, e.g. portable, starting sets
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/0525 Rocking-chair batteries, i.e. batteries with lithium insertion or intercalation in both electrodes; Lithium-ion batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/425 Structural combination with electronic components, e.g. electronic circuits integrated to the outside of the casing printed circuits H05K1/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2010/4271 Battery management systems including electronic circuits, e.g. control of current or voltage to keep battery in healthy state, cell balancing
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2207/20 Charging or discharging characterised by the power electronics converter
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2207/40 adapted for charging from various sources, e.g. AC, DC or multivoltage
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0042 characterised by the mechanical construction
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0045 concerning the insertion or the connection of the batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0047 with monitoring or indicating devices or circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0048 Detection of remaining charge capacity or state of charge [SOC]
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0068 Battery or charger load switching, e.g. concurrent charging and load supply H02J7/0013 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/02 for charging batteries from ac mains by converters
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/342 The other DC source being a battery actively interacting with the first one, i.e. battery to battery charging with circuits for polarity protection H02J7/0034
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/345 using capacitors as storage or buffering devices
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 3/155 using semiconductor devices only
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 3/1557 Single ended primary inductor converters [SEPIC]

Abstract

A compact battery charger for charging a battery comprising: a microprocessor; a set of terminals operatively coupled to said microprocessor and configured to electrically couple with an automotive battery; and an internal lithium ion battery, wherein the internal lithium ion battery is a lithium ion battery, wherein a single-ended primary-inductor converter may be configured to receive an input voltage of 5 VDC to 20 VDC and output a predetermined DC charge voltage to said internal lithium ion battery.

Claims

1. A compact battery booster comprising:

a storage capacitor and an internal lithium ion battery to supply a starting current to jump start an engine that is electrically coupled with an external battery, wherein the internal lithium ion battery is electrically coupled in parallel with said storage capacitor;

at least one processor operatively coupled with (1) a reverse polarity sensor to detect a polarity of the external battery, (2) a temperature sensor to detect a temperature of said storage capacitor or said internal lithium ion battery, and (3) a voltage sensor to detect a voltage of said internal lithium ion battery;

a display device operatively coupled to the at least one processor, the display device configured to display a state of charge of said internal lithium ion battery, said storage capacitor, or a combination thereof;

direct current (DC) output terminals configured to output the starting current to the engine or to the external battery via a set of conductors; and

a power management circuit operatively coupled to the at least one processor, the internal lithium ion battery, and the storage capacitor, wherein the power management circuit is configured to selectively provide the starting current to the engine or the external battery via the set of conductors.

2. The compact battery booster of claim 1, further comprising a single-ended primary-inductor converter to receive a variable input voltage between 5 volts DC and 20 volts DC and to output a predetermined charge voltage to said storage capacitor or said internal lithium ion battery.

3. The compact battery booster of claim 1, wherein the starting current is at least 200 cranking amperes.

13. The compact battery booster of claim 3, wherein the internal battery is a lead acid battery.

4. A compact battery booster comprising:

at least one processor;

an internal battery and a supercapacitor to supply a starting current to jump start an engine electrically coupled with an external battery, wherein the internal battery is electrically coupled in parallel with said supercapacitor;

a display device operatively coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the display device is configured to display a state of charge of said internal battery, said supercapacitor, or a combination thereof;

direct current (DC) output terminals configured to output the starting current to the engine or to the external battery via a set of conductors;

a reverse polarity sensor operatively coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the reverse polarity sensor is configured to detect a polarity of the external battery;

a temperature sensor operatively coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the temperature sensor is configured to detect a temperature of said internal battery or said supercapacitor; and

a power management circuit operatively coupled to each of the at least one processor, the supercapacitor, and the internal battery, wherein the power management circuit is configured to selectively provide the starting current to the engine or the external battery via the set of conductors.

5. The compact battery booster of claim 4, further comprising a single-ended primary-inductor converter to receive a variable input voltage between 5 volts DC and 20 volts DC and to output a predetermined charge voltage to said supercapacitor or said internal battery.

6. The compact battery booster of claim 4, wherein the at least one processor is configured to detect a drop in current across the DC output terminals and the power management circuit is configured to provide the starting current to the engine or the external battery in response to the at least one processor detecting the drop in current across the DC output terminals.

7. The compact battery booster of claim 6, wherein the drop in current across the DC output terminals results from a user attempting to start the engine.

8. The compact battery booster of claim 4, further comprising a control relay configured to discharge current stored to the supercapacitor into the external battery.

9. The compact battery booster of claim 4, wherein the supercapacitor is configured to draw a charging current from the internal battery.

10. The compact battery booster of claim 4, wherein the supercapacitor is configured to draw a charging current from the external battery via the DC output terminals before the power management circuit provides the starting current.

11. The compact battery booster of claim 10, wherein the external battery is sufficiently depleted such that it is unable to start the engine.

12. The compact battery booster of claim 4, wherein the internal battery is a lithium ion battery.

14. A compact battery booster comprising:

at least one processor;

a supercapacitor to supply a starting current to jump start an engine that is coupled to a depleted external battery, wherein the supercapacitor is configured to draw a charging current from the depleted external battery when the engine is not running;

a display device operatively coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the display device is configured to display a status of the supercapacitor;

direct current (DC) output terminals configured to output the starting current to the engine or to the external battery via a set of conductors, wherein the at least one processor is configured to detect a drop in current across the DC output terminals;

a reverse polarity sensor operatively coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the reverse polarity sensor is configured to detect a polarity of the depleted external battery; and

a power management circuit operatively coupled to each of the at least one processor and the supercapacitor, wherein the power management circuit is configured to selectively provide the starting current to said the engine or the external battery via the set of conductors, wherein the starting current is provided to the engine or the external battery in response to the at least one processor detecting a drop in current across the DC output terminals.

15. A compact battery booster comprising:

an internal lithium ion battery to supply a starting current to jump start an engine operably coupled with an external battery, said internal lithium ion battery being rated at least 3,000 mAh and comprising lithium iron phosphate or lithium ion polymer, wherein the starting current is at least 200 cranking amperes;

at least one processor operatively coupled with (1) a reverse polarity sensor to detect a polarity of an external battery, (2) a temperature sensor to detect a temperature of said internal lithium ion battery, and (3) a voltage sensor to detect a voltage of said internal lithium ion battery or said external battery;

a display device operatively coupled to the at least one processor, the display device to display a state of charge of said internal lithium ion battery;

a universal serial bus (USB) port to supply a first current;

direct current (DC) output terminals to supply the starting current, wherein the DC output terminals are configured to electrically couple with the engine or the external battery;

a single-ended primary-inductor converter to receive a variable input voltage between 5 volts DC and 20 volts DC and to output a predetermined charge voltage to said internal lithium ion battery; and

a power management circuit operatively coupled to the at least one processor and the internal lithium ion battery, wherein the power management circuit is configured to selectively provide the starting current to said engine or said external battery via the DC output terminals, wherein the power management circuit is configured to supply the starting current to the engine or the external battery via the DC output terminals if the at least one processor determines that (1) the polarity of the external battery is not reversed, (2) the temperature of said internal lithium ion battery is within a predetermined temperature range, and (3) the voltage of said internal lithium ion battery or said external battery is within a predetermined voltage range.

16. The compact battery booster of claim 15, wherein the internal lithium ion battery is rated at least 10,000 mAh.

17. The compact battery booster of claim 15, further comprising a light emitting diode flashlight powered by said internal battery.

18. The compact battery booster of claim 15, further comprising a second USB port to supply a second current that is (1) greater than the first current and (2) less than the starting current.

19. The compact battery booster of claim 18, wherein the first current and the second current are each less than 3.0 amperes.

20. The compact battery booster of claim 15, further comprising an internal data storage device to store digital media files that are accessible via the USB port.

21. The compact battery booster of claim 15, wherein the variable input voltage is received via the USB port.

22. The compact battery booster of claim 15, further comprising a wireless transceiver to communicate with a remote device over a network.

23. A compact battery booster comprising:

at least one processor;

an internal lithium ion battery to supply a starting current to jump start an engine that is operably coupled with an external battery, wherein the internal lithium ion battery is rated at least 3,000 mAh and the starting current is at least 200 cranking amperes;

direct current (DC) output terminals to supply the starting current from the internal lithium ion battery to the engine or the external battery;

a reverse polarity sensor operatively coupled with the at least one processor and configured to detect a polarity of the external battery across the DC output terminals;

a temperature sensor to detect a temperature of the internal lithium ion battery;

a voltage sensor to detect a voltage of the internal lithium ion battery or the external battery;

a display device operatively coupled to the at least one processor and configured to display a state of charge of the internal lithium ion battery; and

a power management circuit operatively coupled to the at least one processor and the internal lithium ion battery, wherein the power management circuit is configured to selectively provide the starting current to the engine or the external battery via the DC output terminals as function of (i) the polarity of the external battery, (ii) the temperature of the internal lithium ion battery, or (iii) the voltage of the internal lithium ion battery or the external battery.

24. The compact battery booster of claim 23, further comprising a single-ended primary-inductor converter to receive a variable input voltage between 5 volts DC and 20 volts DC and to output a predetermined charge voltage to the internal lithium ion battery.

25. The compact battery booster of claim 23, further comprising a wireless transceiver to communicate with a remote device over a network.

26. The compact battery booster of claim 23, wherein the power management circuit is configured to selectively provide the starting current to the engine or the external battery via the DC output terminals as function of both (i) the polarity of the external battery and (ii) the voltage of the external battery.

27. The compact battery booster of claim 23, further comprising a universal serial bus (USB) port to supply a first current from the internal lithium ion battery to an external device.

28. The compact battery booster of claim 27, further comprising a second USB port to supply a second current that is (1) greater than the first current and (2) less than the starting current.